They Don't Call Him Mouth For Nothing
by 0'EmeraldEyes'0
Summary: A gossipy David guides a new student through Pulitzer Academy, telling her all about it's students as he goes. Should be a few laughs along the way. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the newsies. I hate saying that, it makes me sad.**

_Author's Note: Okay, so this story is a 180 from anything I've written in the past. Really, my sister Patty just asked me to write a story for her, so this is it. She came up with the basic persona of Spot, who you'll get to meet in the next chapter, and asked me to personify the rest of the newsies that way. Please take this story at face value - it's nothing I spent too much time on or put to much thought into - it is strictly for entertainment purposes, lol. Anyhow, I tried to imagine what each of the newsies would be like in a modern setting and I put in a narrator, Taylor (aka my sister) to kind of guide you through meeting all of them. I know the plot line might be a little over done, but I tried to put my own spin on it. I hope you enjoy this - at least get a few laughs out of it. And also, leave me some reviews, please, this will only be a few chapters long. _

It was a Monday morning. And like most other Monday mornings, I was having a particularly difficult time dragging myself from the warmth of my bed. Today, however, would be drastically different from any other Monday.

I had recently been forcibly removed from my old high school in Chicago to a brand new school just outside of New York City. To make an incredibly long and painful story short – my mother divorced my father, and when the court asked who I'd rather stay with, I chose my Dad. But he didn't tell me his job would be moving him to New York until after the judge had banged his gavel and decreed, "Jeffries divorce granted this thirtieth of September. Custody of the minor child granted to defendant (namely, my dad). Court is adjourned." That's it, game over. A week later my bags are packed and I'm bidding good bye to every friend I've known since kindergarten.

Now it's just me and dear old Dad, stuck in a second-rate apartment building overlooking one of the shabbier dumpsters in the city, and eating toast and ramen for each and every meal.

It's not so bad I guess. I've always been a Daddy's girl, and we get along well enough. He stays out of my business if I stay out of his, and that's the way we both like it. It's this high school thing that's scaring me. I've never been very good at making new friends, and so today should be quite an adventure.

I walk to school and the first thing I notice is that the kids look the same as they did at my old school, which makes me feel a little better. My first class is gym, and that goes by without a hitch – I'm a natural athlete.

Second period is what worries me the most: math. Math has the same effect on me as milk did on my best lactose intolerant friend, Dylan, back in Chicago. I get nauseous and my palms sweat and sometimes I even break out in a rash. No lie. So I enter the classroom shaking and find a seat in the very back row. From this vantage point I can see almost everyone else in the room. The second person to enter the room is a curly-haired kid with sickly pale skin, a meticulously organized three-ring binder, two sharpened number two pencils, and of course, a Princeton sweatshirt. The only thing missing was the _kick-me_ sign on his back.

A few more kids found seats a few rows over from me, none taking any special interest in me, and I paid them the same courtesy. The last to arrive were a slim blond with a baseball jersey, accompanied by the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. He had careless hair that fell into his eyes, a backwards cap, some band tee-shirt, and a grin that lit up the room. I would marry this boy one day. They took their seats just as the bell rang and a teacher closed the door. He was old and graying and I knew I was in for a long semester.

"Mr. Kelly," was the first thing he said, "We have a dress code here."

I glanced around the room to find the perpetrator, and sure enough, it was my future husband.

"Sure thing, Bill," he said and stuffed his cap into his backpack.

The teacher sighed irritably, "That's Mr. Moran, thank you."

The boy with the smile chuckled and he and his friend began conversing in whispers as the teacher started the lesson. Then, as if it had nearly slipped his mind, he turned back around. "Oh yes," he said, casting his eyes over his students. "I almost forgot, we have a new student."

I hated that teachers felt the need to do this. Hadn't they ever just wanted to be invisible before? They made it so damn hard. I wanted to stab him in the face.

The kids all turned back to face me directly, as if I were sitting in the designated "new kid" chair. I felt my face heat up.

"Ms. Taylor Jeffries is here from Chicago. Any volunteers to help her with the lesson today and perhaps show her around the school? I am sure she would appreciate it."

I could have died. And sure enough, who else but Mr. Kick-me raised his hand.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Jacobs."

I tried to smile as the boy gathered his books and came to sit next to me. He stretched out his hand to me, "I'm David," he told me.

"Taylor," I cringed.

It was a long fifty minutes before the bell rang signaling the end of my daily torture session. I slung my bag over my shoulder but David caught me before I could leave. "You want me to show you where anything is?" he asked.

I smiled, knowing he was only trying to be nice. I could turn him down and possibly never have social contact with another kid in this building, or I could just go along with him and see what happened.

I sighed, already knowing what my choice had to be. "Yeah," I said, "actually, I don't know where the library is."

David smiled, and said "Well I have study next; I can take you now if you want."

I nodded, "Me too, that'd be great."

We walked down several long hallways, David chattering animatedly beside me. On several occasions he'd point kids out to me and give a brief synopsis. Mostly I just tuned him out, hoping not too many people would associate me with kick-me boy.

We arrived at the library a few minutes later and much to my surprise I heard someone call out, "Heya Davey! Over here."

The boy in question stood out like a sore thumb. He wore brown corduroy pants with a white button-up shirt and a green vest over it. It took everything in me not to laugh out loud at his get-up. A librarian glared at the boy and scolded, "This is a library, Mr. Higgins, how many times do I have to tell you?"

Mr. Higgins rolled his eyes and mumbled something about silence stifling the creative process. David smiled and we took seats next to the new boy.

"Tony, this is Taylor Jeffries. She's new, I'm just showing her around," David introduced us. "Taylor, this is Tony, he's a good friend of mine."

Tony took my hand and kissed it, "_Bon jour, mademoiselle_."

I made a face and David laughed, "Tony's a little eccentric."

I nodded, "I see."

Tony leaned his chair back and put his feet up on the table, crossing his ankles. "So what brings you to Pulitzer academy?" he asked.

I cringed. "It's a long story."

Tony smiled wide, "Good, I _adore _long stories."

I couldn't help but smile a little as well, but I said "Maybe another time," and left it at that.

David shook his head, "You're going to scare her off, Tony."

"Nah," Tony shrugged, "She owes me a story. You should bring her along to Tibby's tonight."

David was shaking his head, but I jumped at the opportunity. "What's Tibby's?"

Tony sprang forward and began talking enthusiastically about a little restaurant he said he, Dave, and the rest of their friends hung out at every once in a while. "You'll love it," he declared.

"No she won't," Dave argued, "it's cheap and dirty and –"

"I like cheap," I interrupted, chuckling even though it was true.

"And dirty," Tony smirked impishly.

Dave gave him a very stern look, but I laughed.

"Aw, c'mon Davey," Tony nudged, "Five bucks says she'll love it."

David gave in to our combined efforts of persuasion, "Fine fine," he said.

Just as David and I were about to leave so that he could show me the cafeteria, Tony grabbed my shirt sleeve. "And for the record," he told me, "I've never lost a bet in my life. So you _will _love it, got it?"

His face was deadly serious, threatening almost, and I was a little afraid. But just before I would have forcibly pulled myself from his grasp, he winked, and the corner of his mouth turned up into a mischievous little grin.

I smiled despite myself, "Got it," I told him.

"Good, we're gonna be friends after all," he said and let me and David leave unscathed, leaning back lazily in his chair with his feet up once more...

That night I would meet the rest of David's friends. I had no idea what I was in for.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.**

_Author's Note: So I was shocked to find the kind of feedback I did for this story, lol. Thank you guys so much, I never expected this would go over well at all. It really was just a joke between my sister Patty and I, lol, and we posted it as such. But anyhow, I love you guys, thanks again. Also, I was going to extend this chapter to much longer than it is but I thought, what the hell, why not drag out the suspense? So you don't meet all the boys in this chapter, but David does run his mouth quite a bit. Next chapter I promise we'll meet the rest of the boys - Blink, Mush, and of course Spot, who I absolutely adore. Thanks again to Patty for giving me the basic idea for him lol._

As soon as I got home I started getting ready. This would be my first official social outing in my new hometown, and I would make sure it went off without a hitch. I showered quickly and blow dried my hair into perfectly sleek shiny-ness. I put on just a little make-up; no need to over do it. Picking out clothes was what always took the longest. Eventually I settled on dark blue jeans and a lavender tank, a little revealing but the color went nice with my hair.

I was so excited I could hardly sit still. Sure, David hadn't been very promising at first, but after meeting Tony, I thought there might be some hope for his other friends. And he had practically fallen in my lap, after all, it had to be fate or something, right?

My dad still wasn't home when David pulled up in his old beater of a car, so I scribbled him a note and left it on the fridge. I grabbed my purse and ran outside. Hopping in the front seat, David seemed to grimace. "Alright," he said, "But when we pick up Jack, you'll have to get in back. Jack _always_ gets shotgun."

I nodded with a smile. "So how many people are going to be there?" I asked conversationally.

David pursed his lips slightly, "Same people as always – me, Jack, Tony, Brian, Michael, and Shawn."

I nodded. All boys. Not so bad …

We pulled up in Jack's driveway and I moved to the back as I'd promised.

We sat waiting for several minutes before David started getting annoyed. "You know, we go the same time every week. You'd think he'd have figured it out by now," he said, laying on the horn. "By the way, Jack's a little arrogant sometimes. You'll get used to it. Whatever you do, don't say anything that might inflate his ego any more."

A second later, my heart stopped beating. Walking down the drive was the boy from my math class that I'd sworn to marry. He was still in rugged looking jeans and a pink band shirt still stretched tight against his chest, the cap was still there, the brim pulled down just enough to hide his eyes, and he had that to-die-for grin. He sauntered over to the car and climbed in.

"Jesus, you're so impatient, Dave."

David rolled his eyes and jabbed a thumb in my direction. "Jack, this is Taylor. Taylor, Jack."

Jack swiveled in his seat to look at me. He gave me a little head bob and grinned. "Good to know ya," he said, with just the slightest hint of an accent. I melted.

"Uh huh …" I managed breathlessly.

Jack raised an eyebrow at me and turned back around. "Dave, ya brought a mute?" he laughed.

David chuckled. "She's new; just give her a bit to adjust. Anyhow, it was Race who asked me to bring her – it wasn't my idea."

I pouted. "Hey, guys, I'm right here …"

Jack laughed a little, "Yeah, you'll have to excuse Dave, he can never keep his mouth shut." Jack shot David a playful punch to the arm. "Geez Dave, try and be a little nicer, huh?"

I couldn't help myself smiling at David's outrage.

We drove a little longer and then David spoke up again. "You think we should pre-warn her about some of the guys?" he asked Jack.

Jack just shrugged, rolled down the window, and lit a Camel.

"Oh God, you know I hate when you smoke …" David mused, but Jack just fiddled with the radio and lounged further into his seat.

David rolled his eyes and looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Well, I guess I better tell you some things before we get there. First, well, you met Tony already. He's nice, just a little out there, if you know what I mean. He writes for the school newspaper - all kinds of crazy controversial stuff. Last week he wrote a piece on how our principal is a leader in the child pornography industry; the week before that was about how LSD should be legalized, at least in the art department, as a means of channeling creativity to students."

I gaped, "Can he do that?"

David laughed, "Freedom of the press. Anyhow, he really is a terrific writer – words just come easier to him than to the rest of us I suppose, despite how he may choose to use them. He _has_ written a few valid pieces, I think. Last year he did a humanity story on the injustice of the school's zero-tolerance policy."

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"Basically, the school refuses to accept anyone who doesn't fit their strict idea of what a student at Pulitzer Academy should be: the straight, Caucasian student who plays baseball and gets straight A's."

I frowned, "That's shitty."

"I agree," David nodded, "and Tony's criticism of the school's close-mindedness was fantastic. I'll have to show you that article sometime. But as long as we're on the subject of baseball, I'll you about Brian."

"Sure," I said, honestly eager to hear more about David and Jack's group of friends.

"Brian is the pitcher on the varsity baseball team-"

"He must be good," I interrupted.

David laughed, "Yeah, just ask him … Anyway, he's been playing baseball since he was like three. He's a good athlete, but mostly he just does it for the fame. He's kind of a womanizer too, so watch out for him. I don't know, that's all I really have to say about Brian, I guess," David chuckled to himself. "He likes girls, that's it – there's really no more depth to him than that …"

Jack chuckled from the passenger seat – clearly David spoke the truth.

David mused to himself, "Who else, who else … Oh! Michael. He's a good guy. He's an athlete too – he's been the school's star wrestler for three years running. The guy's strong as an ox, it's ridiculous."

I laughed a little.

"And that's it I think," David concluded, but Jack corrected him:

"You forgot Shawn," he said pointedly.

"Oh …" David groaned, "Right."

Jack laughed, "Dave and Shawn don't really get along."

"Oh," I said seriously, "Why not?"

David tried to keep his tone as pleasant as possible. "Our personalities just clash …that's all."

Jack looked at David with eyes that clearly said: _You are such a liar._

Jack spun around in his seat and looked at me seriously, "David just doesn't like Shawn, because Shawn likes boys."

My eyes got wide and I didn't quite know what to say. But David filled the silence instead with his protests. "That is _not _why I don't like him! We just don't get along … for personal reasons."

Jack sniggered, "Yeah, _personally_ you don't like him 'cause you're afraid he's gonna hit on you."

David frowned uncomfortably, "He _does_ hit on me …" he whined.

Jack laughed, "Yeah, 'cause he knows he can get a rise out of you, Dave."

David kept pouting, so Jack continued. "Spot's openly gay," he told me calmly. "He's been so since eighth grade. We all thought it was for attention at first, but he's stuck with it, been in a few serious relationships, so we all kinda just had to get used to it."

I nodded. I'd never been close to anyone like that before – occasionally watching _Will & Grace_ certainly didn't count for anything.

"He's pretty proud of it," Jack laughed to himself, "He's notorious for this rainbow handkerchief he wears in his back pocket, and he's got this whole philosophy that any guy can conquer the 'female psyche' as he puts in, but how many guys can say they've done the same for men? It's actually kind of ingenious, if you ask him about it. But truthfully, he's a master when it comes to that kind of thing."

I was unclear: "What kind of thing, exactly?"

"Sex," Jack said nonchalantly.

I felt myself blush, "Oh," I chuckled, "Okay."

"Alright, that's enough," David said abruptly, "We're here, let's go."

_A/N: Please hit that review button, lol, thanks so much._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The idea for this story was my sisters, the characters in this story are Disney's, and the lyrics in this story are from a band called Every Avenue. Nothing is mine, lol, ever, except the rainbow handkerchief. I am the proud owner of that, as well as Spot's flamboyant-ness, jk.**

_Author's Note: This story is dragging itself on for much longer than I had anticipated. But I hope you're enjoying it lol, it is attracting a different reader base than I usually get, since most of my other stories tend to be sappy an/or depressing. So that's good I guess. I already have chapter four planned, so hopefully I'll be getting that up shortly, and then probably only one more chapter after that, but we'll see. Again, thanks for reading, and hopefully you'll leave me some nice reviews lol._

From the moment we left the car, I knew I was in for one hell of a night. Tibby's was exactly as David had described it: run-down, dirty, and altogether rather sleazy looking. The door was propped open, loud music blared from inside, and the windows were so caked in grime that you could hardly see through them. I held my breath and followed Jack and David inside.

There was a long counter along one wall where a few young people in aprons were getting customers their coffees and sandwiches. In a corner a small stage was set up, and currently a local band was strumming guitars and screaming into microphones. The rest of the room was dotted with couches and high tables with three legged stools where a wide variety of teenagers sat half-heartedly sipping their drinks, puffing on their cigarettes, and tapping their toes to the music. David told us he was going to get a cappuccino, so I followed Jack to find the rest of the boys.

They were sitting at a corner table, the furthest away from the music, smiling and exchanging stories. "Oh, by the way," Jack told me suddenly, "I should tell you that none of the boys use the names David gave you." Oh great. "We've all got kind of nicknames, ya know? David refuses to use them – he thinks it's juvenile."

I smiled at the idea nonetheless – I'd never had a nickname before. "What do they call you?" I asked shyly.

Jack grinned at me, but one of the boys answered before he could.

"Cowboy!" he yelled, catching sight of us, "You didn't tell us you were bringin' a date!" The boy who called to us had bleach blond hair and shocking blue eyes. He stood up to give me his chair. "Here ya go, babe – you shouldn't be messin' around with Jack ya know, he doesn't know how to treat a lady."

I could feel the blush creep into my cheeks and took his seat willingly. Whoever said chivalry was dead?

Jack shook his head at the boy. "She ain't my date; she's a friend of Dave's. Her name's Taylor."

Just then Tony from the library looked up from his large mug of coffee and beamed. "So you decided to come after all, huh? I promise we'll make it worth your while." And he winked at me.

Jack laughed and began introductions. "This is Blink," he motioned first to the boy who had given up his chair for me. Blink gave me a very conspicuous once-over in response.

"That's Mush," Jack said, motioning to a dark-skinned boy with wiry black hair. The boy smiled at me politely and gave a little wave. I waved back – he seemed like the most normal of the bunch.

"You've already met Race I guess," Jack informed me of Tony's nickname.

Race smiled and nodded, "I already met the Sheila, yeah."

Jack laughed and continued, "And that's Spot," he said, motioning across the room to where a slim boy in a tight fitting black shirt and dark jeans with a rainbow handkerchief was straddling another boy on one of the couches. Again I felt my face heat up and forced myself to look away.

Finally David showed up with his cappuccino. He pulled a chair over for himself and sat in between myself and Mush. The boys all acknowledged his presence with a friendly nod, except for Race, who said, "Ah, the sucker of fun is back."

I laughed when a voice near my ear startled me. "And a whole lotta other things besides just dat."

The boys all laughed while I looked up to see who had spoken. It was Spot, apparently back from his rendezvous with the boy from the couch.

David looked extremely cross, and Spot took it for all it was worth. He leaned down and took a quick little nibble of David's earlobe. David swatted him away, "Leave me alone, Shawn!" he yelled. "I haven't done anything to you."

Spot rolled his eyes, taking a seat beside Race. "C'mon, Mouth, lighten up."

I raised my eyebrows at Jack, who amended quickly. "Dave's nickname is Mouth, cause he can never seem to stop running his."

Spot rolled his eyes, "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "_Dat's_ it …"

The other boys continued snickering, Race especially, who seemed to thrive on Spot's torments of David. David raised his voice, ready to protest, when Spot looked directly at me, "Don't let da baby face fool ya, dis kid's got a mouth like a Hoover."

I laughed out loud despite myself, covering my mouth with my hands in surprise of Spot's boldness. I didn't want to offend David, but I couldn't help it. Spot had an accent much stronger than Jack's that he didn't seem to care enough to hide, and this gave him a certain edge that I wasn't able to place.

He smiled back at me when I laughed, "Who's da goil, Cowboy?" he asked.

"Taylor," he said, "She's new in school." I noticed that Jack had taken over introducing me to his friends, and he didn't call me "David's friend" anymore. That made me smile. I was one step closer to the wedding…

My thoughts on the colors of bridesmaid's dresses were interrupted, however, with Spot smiling. "Well, she's cool by me."

Jack nodded. Apparently, Spot's opinion was the one that mattered most.

We settled into a comfortable sort of talking and joking. I came to notice quickly that my earlier impression was correct – Spot seemed to be the leader of the group, along with Jack. The two of them commanded the conversation while Race made sarcastic side comments that made everyone chuckle. Blink and Mush followed their lead – both were sweet boys – and David tended to just look annoyed.

"So who was that boy, Spot?" Race was just asking.

Spot shrugged, "Dunno," he said casually, grabbing a mozzarella stick from the basket in the middle of the table and eating it a very sexual manner.

Jack laughed, "Do you even know his name this time?"

Spot grinned impishly. "Nah," he said, "Do I ever?"

"Yeah, who needs names?" Race smiled. "It only complicates things. Sex is sex, with or without names," he laughed sarcastically.

Spot chuckled, "Finally someone understands me."

David rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Race said suddenly. "If my memory serves me correctly, you owe me a story, do you not?" he asked me.

I suddenly became withdrawn and shook my head, "No," I said, "I don't think so."

"What kinda story?" Blink asked, excited. The smallest things seemed to make him happy.

"Why she's at Pulitzer midway through senior year," Race explained. "Which, if I may be so bold, really bites."

I smiled, "My parents split up," I said. "My dad had to move here for his job. He didn't tell me he was moving till after he had already gotten full custody."

Mush's eyes got wide. "That's horrible," he said, "Oh man."

I shrugged, "Could be worse."

"Like how?" Jack laughed ironically.

Spot chuckled, "Like ya coulda not brought her tah Tibby's an' she'd a' been stuck with Mouth all year."

Jack chuckled.

Just then the singer of the band stepped up to the mic. "Alright," he said, "This is it for us. Remember we've got CD's for five bucks in the back. Please buy one - we're poor. And I'm sick a' sleepin' in the trailer, waking up to Jason tryin' tah fondle me, got it? Thanks again."

He stepped back and cued up the band. It was the last band of the night, and soon everybody would be kicked out. I had kinda hoped the night would last forever. Looking around at my newfound friends, I smiled to myself. Mush with his congenial smile, Blink with his forceful charm, David and his pouting, Race and everything about him that was just slightly off, Spot and his suave coolness, and of course Jack and his amazing smile …

_Let's turn this up a little bit louder, yeah yeah,_

_Keep singin' along as the night gets longer._

_Let's keep it movin',_

_Keep our feet up off the ground,_

_We hate to leave but we'll be back around._

_These are the days that we will always remember,_

_Chasing the nights to make our days better,_

_Sun sets and we're setting sail,_

_To another town._

_Got all the windows down,_

_And the radio up._

_Let's do it again, keep the rhythm with our hearts_

_This is why we wake up,_

_What it's all about …_

_Let's turn this up a little bit louder, yeah yeah,_

_Keep singing along as the night gets longer_

_These are the days that we will always remember,_

_Chasing the nights to make our days better_

_Let's turn this up a little bit louder,_

_Let's turn this up a little bit louder,_

_Let's turn this up a little bit louder,_

_Keep singin' along as the night gets longer…_

The band waved one last time and began packing up their things. I stood up and slung my purse over my shoulder, ready to head out, but Spot grabbed my elbow. "Where do ya think ya goin'?" he asked.

"I thought, since the bands were done-"

Race laughed to the other boys, "She doesn't know how things are done here," and gave an apologetic smile. Then he came up next to my ear and hissed, "What're you doin'? You're embarrassing me …"

Knowing he was teasing, I smiled and raised my eyebrows at him in a friendly way..

Jack smiled, "Yeah, it's only, what, eleven?"

Blink grinned, "I got my truck, c'mon, let's go."

It was the second time that evening I'd heard the phrase "Let's go," and I was beginning the fear my night would never end.

_Review Review Review!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Not mine - they're never mine.**

_Author's Note: Last chapter, woo hoo. This story, as everyone's heard by now, was written for my sister Patty, and I do hope she's enjoyed it. The ending of this chapter, when they find their new "hangout" was an idea of my other sister, Mary, and I. I think the idea sounded much cooler in our heads than I could get down on paper, but oh well, it's a little ironic twist I hope you enjoy. Oh, one more thing - I did have to add some romantic involvings between Spot and Race, it just didn't seem right not to lol. So anyway, this has been an experience for me - I'm not used to writing anything quite so, I dunno, light hearted as this. My stories tend to be rather depressing lol, so I hope that you liked this. And if you did, please give me some feedback, and I might write more stories like this in the future. Thanks._

Piling into Blink's truck was quite an affair. Jack got shotgun, Spot volunteered to sit on Race's lap in the cab, and I got the seat beside them. Mush squeezed in next to me behind Jack, and David got kicked into the bed of the truck.

"This is really unfair guys," he was saying, "Why doesn't Shawn have to sit outside the truck?"

Spot grinned, "'Cause Race wants me on his lap 'a course."

David looked at Race pointedly, clearly asking for him to protest. But Race just shrugged casually, "He owes me some obscene sexual favors for a poker game he lost to me last week."

Spot smiled, "What can I say? I'm poor – sex is all I've got."

David rolled his eyes and climbed into the back of the truck looking thoroughly disgusted. I was forced to watch him and his sad puppy eyes through the window the whole trip.

Blink immediately turned up some very loud, very annoying rap music when we pulled out of the parking lot. Jack feigned pain, "My ears!" he cried, "They're bleeding!"

Blink punched him in the arm, "You don't know what you're talkin' about. This is the only good music."

I made out some lyrics about "shaking it baby girl" and a few drug references before Jack couldn't stand it anymore. He put on a rock station, and everyone settled back. I seemed to be the only one who didn't know where we were going.

"I'm sorry," Mush smiled at me when Blink took a corner too fast and he almost ended up in my lap. I shook my head that it was fine, but Mush tried to scoot over as far as he could to give me the most room possible.

On the other side of me, Race was sitting with Spot straddling him. Every once in a while Spot would shift himself to be closer to the boy, or lean down and put his head on Race's shoulder, sucking his neck in a very loud, very noticeable way.

Race hadn't said anything about his sexuality, but then again, I hadn't asked. And as he was clearly enjoying Spot's antics, I figured I knew the answer. Obviously Race hadn't been kidding about the sexual favors…

"C'mon guys," Blink said, glancing at them in the rearview mirror. "I really don't need you staining my backseat again, especially since you're not the only ones back there this time."

Jack glanced in the rearview mirror too, and I caught his eyes with a confused glance. He laughed, "They always do this," he turned around and told me. "Race doesn't advertise his sexuality like Spot – he's bi – but the two of them are always screwing around."

"Hey Jacky-boy," Spot said (muffled against Race's neck), "Why doncha keep ya nose outta othah people's business?"

Race chuckled, "Don't knock it till you've tried it." They went on that way for the rest of the ride and I just tried to keep my eyes on anything else.

Finally we pulled up in a gas station well outside of town. Jack made to get out, but Spot untangled himself from Race and they hopped out first. "We'll go," Spot said. "Anyhow, Skittery likes me best," he added with a wink.

I watched them saunter up to the doors, Spot reached down at one point and grabbed Race's ass. Race stuck out a foot and Spot tripped and nearly fell on his face. But the boy was good humored about it, laughing hard and following behind Race anyway. I decided I enjoyed watching them. Clearly they were nothing exclusive – not after I'd seen Spot with that other boy on the couch and Race seemed so cool about it – but they did like each other. They seemed a nice match, too, and they made me laugh.

We could see through the gas station's windows and we all watched as the boy behind the counter raised his palms defensively, clearly telling Spot and Race something they did not want to hear. But Spot hopped up on the counter and reached up to push the security camera away. He then proceeded to take Skittery's face in his hands and smash their lips together. Again I looked away, but when I looked back a few minutes later, Skittery was ringing something up for the other two boys, looking intensely guilty with a blush that reached all the way to his ears.

Spot and Race came back with a thirty pack of beer and threw it in the back with David. They climbed inside the truck and Jack asked, "Ya didn't have any trouble, did ya?"

Spot shrugged, "Da bum said he got caught last time and was gonna get fired if dey found him sellin' anymore tah anyone underaged."

Blink laughed, "Yeah, and we all saw how quickly you changed his mind."

"Dat?" Spot asked, "Dat wasn't what changed his mind. Just a preview of what he'd get later if he cooperated."

Jack chuckled to himself, "Spot, you're such a slut …"

Spot grinned ear to ear, "Why thank you, Jacky-boy."

"Anyhow," Race added, "He isn't _a_ slut, he's _thee_ slut." And then Race pulled Spot into a kiss, and no one heard a word from them for the rest of the drive.

About ten minutes later they pulled up on the side of the road next to a huge park. I had no idea where we were, but the boys all tumbled out of the car minutes later. I followed silently. Blink grabbed the beer and they trudged far enough into the trees of the park so that they wouldn't be seen from the street.

Jack dusted off a few fallen logs for them to sit on. "Just as good a place as any," he said.

Blink shrugged, "Well since the cops trashed our last hang out, I guess it'll have to do."

David was looking as if everywhere he turned his eyes was far too dirty for him to actually sit. But the other boys settled in easily.

Jack cracked open a beer, tossing one to Blink, Race, and Spot. He offered me one, but I turned him down.

"Aw c'mon," he whined, "You're not gonna be boring like these two, huh?" he motioned to Mush and David.

"I'll have _one_," I compromised, "But I'm sure my dad wouldn't appreciate me coming home drunk my first night at a new school."

Jack laughed, "Fair enough."

I took the drink Jack offered me, grinning when his fingers brushed mine.

David was looking around the surrounding trees with large, sad, brown eyes. I could tell he was not happy with our choice of location, but he would get over it, just as he seemed to get over everything else given time. "Will ya give it a rest, Dave? We can all tell ya ain't happy. So quit with the puppy dog eyes already," Spot said, annoyed.

David huffed and kept his eyes on the dirt at his feet.

An hour or two later – I took more than just the one beer Jack offered and wasn't quite sure by this point – the boys began to get restless. Jack stood up to stretch his legs and called for Davey to come with him for a walk. David agreed, clearly the most fond of Jack out of all the boys. So I watched him go sadly and Blink called, "Don't get lost!" with a sarcastic chuckle.

Spot was seated on his log, knees set far enough apart so that Race, who was sitting on the ground, could lean back in between them, resting against Spot comfortably. With alcohol, Spot seemed to have abandoned his obscene behavior, and was instead playing lazily with Race's hair in an adorably sentimental gesture. Race was smiling serenely.

Blink was downing another beer in a few gulps, and Mush was watching him with a disapproving look on his face. "Blink, you really should slow down, you're gonna make yourself sick."

Blink clapped Mush on the back good naturedly. "That's why I got you to look after me, huh, Mushee?"

Mush smiled and nodded resignedly. Just then Jack ran back up with Dave. "Hey you guys," he said through heavy breaths. "You gotta come and see this. Me and Dave found this place – looks like it coulda been something like Central Park at one time. There's all these statues an' shit, but they're all overgrown now. But they're super cool."

The rest of the boys got up. I watched Race put his arm around Spot's waist casually, and realized the two must have been … whatever they were … for a long time, because the ease and natural way with which they touched each other was evident to anyone watching. We all followed obediently. By now the evening was turning quickly into early morning, and we were all pretty tired.

When we finally came upon what Jack had been ranting about, none of us were disappointed. There were all kinds of statues and things, all ancient looking now and overgrown with weeds.

"Props Cowboy," Spot chuckled, "Dis ain't half bad."

Race nodded his agreement. "I like it – it's got a mysterious sort of appeal. Let's make this our hangout from now on."

The rest of the boys nodded their agreement – all wandering around to take in the sights of the stone figures. Blink laughed suddenly from a few yards away. "What the hell is this?" he asked.

We all ran over to find him pointing at a statue of a young boy. The boy wore tattered shoes, a vest, and a cap. He had a satchel slung over his shoulder, and in the satchel were newspapers. The statue was deteriorating faster than the ones around it, but the stone still held strong enough for us to make out what it was.

"It's a newsboy," David said knowledgably, "A newsie."

I watched the others try the strange word on their tongues and chuckle. Then Blink laughed out loud. "Looks like a fag to me." Then he cast a worried face in Spot's direction. "No offense."

Spot shrugged good-naturedly, his hand resting in Race's back pocket. But Race was laughing to himself. Without warning he hopped on top of the base of the statue, posed as the stone boy was, with one arm above his head, the other pulling a paper from his imaginary satchel. "Extra, Extra!" he called, "Read all about it!"

We all laughed and David bent down to read the inscription on the base of the statue. "_'When you've got a hundred voices singin', Who can hear a lousy whistle blow?' –A tribute to the newsboys' strike of 1899.'_"

Jack frowned and David shrugged. "Never heard of it," he said, and we all let it drop, shaking our heads at the odd statue.

Race did a few more impressions of the so-called "newsies" and then we all decided it was best if we headed home. "But same time, same place next week," Jack assured us.

On the way home, Spot and Race let David sit inside the truck, and they took the bed, lying down together and watching the sky above them as they sped down the highway. When the boys dropped me off, Jack walked me to the door. He gave me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek and I swooned. "Night, Taylor," he said with a wide smile. I watched him walk back to the car, knowing I was head over heels.

Mush and David both waved out their windows at me, Blink tapped the horn, and Race and Spot leaned around the cab of the truck. Spot gave me a crooked grin – his hair was all messed up and his shirt buttons were done up wrong – I didn't want to think of what he and Race had been doing in the back of that truck. Race winked at me and called, "Buenas Noches," with a flawless Spanish accent, before Spot pulled him back down to engage in whatever activity I had interrupted with my departure.

I grinned to them all, and shut the front door behind me. Leaning against it, I realized that maybe New York wouldn't be so bad. Especially since my very first day at the new school was already the best day of my life...


End file.
